Glossary of Religious Holidays
Buddhist Holidays
Buddhist religious practice stems from the Hindu belief that every new moon or full moon day should be set apart for observance. In Buddhism, the half-moon days also have special status. In Sri Lanka, each Poya day—the day of the rise of the full moon of each month of the Buddhist calendar—is a public holiday. The following observances are common in Southeast Asia.
Songran. The Buddhist New Year is a three-day springtime water festival, in which images of the Buddha are bathed.
Vesak. This last full moon day of Visakha highlights a threeday celebration of the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha. It falls in April or May.
Waso (Varsa; Vassa). This holiday begins the Buddhist equivalent of Lent, a period between July and October (the rainy season in Southeast Asia), during which Buddhist monks may not leave their cloisters. The season starts with the full moon of the month of Asalha and ends with a festival during the full moon of the month of Thadingyut.
Christian Holidays
The chief Christian holiday is Easter, the annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Like Passover, the Jewish feast from which it is derived, the date of observation is linked to the phases of the moon. Since the Christian calendar is a solar one rather than a lunar one, the date of Easter changes from year to year. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox; in the Gregorian calendar, it can occur as early as 22 March or as late as 25 April. The Easter date determines the date of many other Roman Catholic holidays, such as Ash Wednesday, Ascension, and Pentecost.
Important Christian celebrations and feasts that invariably occur on Sunday are not listed as holidays in the country articles because Sunday itself is a holiday ("holy day") in predominantly Christian countries. In these lands, it is the day of rest and worship, occurring on the day after the Jewish Sabbath, from which it is derived, in commemoration of Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.
The names and dates of the Christian holidays listed below are almost all based on Roman Catholic observances. Some of these holidays are also observed by Protestant denominations. By contrast, all countries where Eastern Orthodox rites predominate are Communist-ruled except Greece and the Greek-held portion of Cyprus; in the Communist countries, Christian holidays are not national holidays. For religious celebrations, some Eastern Orthodox churches retain the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Eastern Orthodox holidays do not fully correspond to the list of church holidays given below.
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Observed on 1 January, this celebration was, before a 1969 Vatican reform, the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Epiphany of Our Lord. Traditionally observed on 6 January but now observable on the Sunday falling between 2 January and 7 January, this feast commemorates the adoration of the Magi, who journeyed to the place of Jesus' birth. In the Orthodox churches, however, it is the feast celebrating Jesus' baptism.
St. Dévôte Day. Observed on 27 January in Monaco in honor of the principality's patron saint, this day celebrates her safe landing after a perilous voyage, thanks to a dove who directed her ship to the Monaco shore.
Candlemas. A national holiday on 2 February in Liechtenstein, this observation is now called the Presentation of the Lord, commemorating the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem. Before a 1969 Vatican reform, it commemorated the Purification of Mary 40 days after giving birth to a male child in accordance with a Jewish practice of the time.
St. Agatha's Day. On 5 February is celebrated the feast day of the patron saint of San Marino. St. Agatha is also the patron saint of nurses, firefighters, and jewelers.
Shrove Monday and Shrove Tuesday. These two days occur just prior to the beginning of Lent (a term which derives from the Middle English lente, "spring"), the Christian season of penitence that ends with Easter Sunday. These are days of Carnival, public holidays of feasting and merriment in many lands. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Mardi Gras.
Ash Wednesday. The first day of Lent, observed 46 days before Easter, is so called from the practice of placing ashes on the forehead of the worshiper as a sign of penitence. In the Roman Catholic Church, these ashes are obtained from burning palm branches used in the previous year's Palm Sunday observation. (Palm Sunday commemorates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem a week before Easter Sunday, and it begins Holy Week. On Ash Wednesday, the ashes are placed on the forehead of the communicant during Mass. The recipient is told, "Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return" or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel."
St. Patrick's Day. This holiday, observed on 17 March, is celebrated in Ireland to honor its patron saint.
St. Joseph's Day. The feast day in honor of Mary's husband is observed on 19 March as a public holiday in several countries.
Holy (Maundy) Thursday. The Thursday preceding Easter commemorates the Last Supper, the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, and the arrest and arraignment of Jesus. In Rome, the pope customarily performs a ceremony in remembrance of Jesus' washing of his apostles' feet (John 13:5–20).
Good Friday. The day after Holy Thursday is devoted to remembrance of the crucifixion of Jesus and is given to penance and prayer.
Holy Saturday. This day commemorates the time during which Jesus was buried and, like Good Friday, is given to solemn prayer.
Easter Monday. The day after Easter Sunday is a public holiday in many countries.
Prayer Day. This Danish public holiday is observed on the fourth Friday after Easter.
Ascension. One of the most important Christian feasts, Ascension is observed 40 days after Easter in commemoration of Jesus' ascension to heaven.
Pentecost Monday (Whitmonday). This public holiday in many countries occurs the day after Pentecost (derived from the ancient Green pentekostos, "fiftieth"), or Whitsunday, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' apostles on the seventh Sunday after Easter and is derived from the Jewish feast of Shavuot. It was an important occasion for baptism in the early church, and the name "Whitsunday" originated from the white robes worn by the newly baptized.
Corpus Christi. This holiday in honor of the Eucharist is observed on the Thursday or Sunday after Trinity Sunday, which is the Sunday after Pentecost. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Eucharist is a sacrament in which the consecrated bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus Christ, a belief stemming from New Testament accounts of the Last Supper.
Sacred Heart. The Friday of the week after Corpus Christi is a holiday in Colombia. The object of devotion is the divine person of Jesus, whose heart is the symbol of his love for mankind.
Day of St. Peter and St. Paul. This observance, on 29 June, commemorates the martyrdom of the two apostles traditionally believed to have been executed in Rome on the same day (c. AD 67) during the persecution of Christians ordered by Emperor Nero.
St. James' Day. Observed on 25 July, this day commemorates St. James the Greater, one of Jesus' 12 apostles. St. James is the patron saint of Spain.
Feast of Our Lady of Angels. This feast, on 2 August, is celebrated as a national holiday in Costa Rica in honor of the Virgin Mary. Pilgrimage is made to the basilica in Cartago, which houses a black stone statue of the Virgin.
Assumption. This holiday, observed on 15 August in many countries, celebrates the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox dogma that, following Mary's death, her body was taken into heaven and reunited with her soul.
Crowning of Our Lady of Altagracia. Another holiday in honor of Mary, this day is celebrated in the Dominican Republic on 15 August with a pilgrimage to her shrine. (Altagracia Day, 21 January, is also a holiday in the Dominican Republic.)
Day of Santa Rosa of Lima. The feast day in honor of the first native-born saint of the New World, declared patron saint of South America by Pope Clement X in 1671, is 23 August, but in Peru, she is commemorated by a national holiday on 30 August.
Day of Our Lady of Mercy (Las Mercedes). Another holiday in honor of Mary, this observance on 24 September is a holiday in the Dominican Republic.
All Saints' Day. On 1 November, a public holiday in many countries, saints and martyrs who have no special festival are commemorated. In the Middle Ages, it was known as All Hallows' Day; the evening of the previous day, October 31, was called All Hallow Even, from which the secular holiday Halloween is derived.
All Souls' Day. This day, 2 November, is dedicated to prayer for the repose of the souls of the dead.
Immaculate Conception. This day, 8 December, celebrates the Roman Catholic dogma asserting that Mary's conception, as the future mother of God, was uniquely free from original sin. In Paraguay, it is observed as the Day of Our Lady of Caacupé.
Our Lady of Guadalupe. This Mexican festival, on 12 December, celebrates a miracle that the Virgin Mary is believed to have performed on this day in 1531, when she appeared before an Amerindian peasant and told him to build a shrine in her honor. The shrine is now the site of a basilica in the Mexico City area.
Christmas. The annual commemoration of the nativity of Jesus is held on 25 December. A midnight Mass ushers in this joyous celebration in many Roman Catholic churches. The custom of distributing gifts to children on Christmas Eve derives from a Dutch custom originally observed on the evening before St. Nicholas' Day (6 December). The day after Christmas—often called Boxing Day, for the boxed gifts customarily given—is a public holiday in many countries.
St. Stephen's Day. The feast day in honor of the first martyred Christian saint is 26 December, the day after Christmas. St. Stephen is the patron saint of Hungary.
Hindu Holidays
Hindu holidays are based on various lunar calendars, with an extra month inserted at intervals that vary from year to year, in order to keep festivals from shifting in relation to the seasons. The bright half of the month is that in which the new moon advances to the full moon; the dark half lasts from full moon to new moon. It is said that no nation has more festivals than India. Most are of only local or regional importance, but the following are national holidays in India and other countries with large Hindu populations.
Raksha Bandhan. During this festival, which usually falls in August, bracelets of colored thread and tinsel are tied by women to the wrists of their menfolk, thus binding the men to guard and protect them during the year. It is celebrated on the full moon of Sravana.
Ganesh Chaturthi. The festival, honoring Ganesh (Ganesha), god of prosperity, is held on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada, corresponding to August or September.
Durga Puja. This holiday honors the Divine Mother, wife of Shiva and the principle of creation, in her victory over the demon Mashishasura. It is held during the first 10 days of the bright fortnight of Asvina (Navaratri), a period corresponding to September or October. The last day is Dussehra, an autumn festival that celebrates the victory of the god Rama over Ravana, king of demons.
Dewali (Deepavali; Divali). Dewali is the Hindu Festival of Lights, when Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune, is said to visit the homes of humans. The four-or five-day festival comes at the end of Asvina and the beginning of Karttika, a time corresponding to October or November.
Shivarati (Mahashivarati). Dedicated to the god Shiva, this holiday is observed on the 13th day of the dark half of Magha, corresponding to January or February.
Thaipusam. A holiday in Malaysia, Thaipusam honors Subrimaya, son of Shiva and an important deity in southern India. The three-day festival is held in the month of Magha according to when Pusam, a section of the lunar zodiac, is on the ascendant.
Holi. A festival lasting 3 to 10 days, Holi closes the old year with processions and merriment. It terminates on the full moon of Phalguna, the last month, corresponding to February or March.
Jewish Holidays
The basic Jewish holy day is the Sabbath, the seventh day of each week, starting at sundown on Friday and ending at nightfall on Saturday. This is a day of rest and is devoted to worship, religious study, and the family.
Other Jewish holidays (all starting at sundown and ending at nightfall) occur on specific days of specific months of the Jewish calendar, which consists of 12 alternating months of 29 or 30 days (two months are variable), conforming to the lunar cycle of roughly 291/2 days. In order to reconcile the lunar year of 353, 354, or 355 days with the solar year of 3651/4 days, a 30-day month (Adar Sheni) is added 7 times within a 19-year cycle. In this way, Jewish festivals retain their seasonal origins. The following list, arranged in the order of the Jewish calendar, shows Jewish religious holidays observed in the State of Israel.
Rosh Hashanah. The Jewish New Year is celebrated on 1 Tishri, the first month. In synagogues, the sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) heralds the new year. Rosh Hashanah begins the observance of the Ten Penitential Days, which culminate in Yom Kippur. Orthodox and Conservative Jews outside Israel celebrate 2 Tishri, the next day, as well.
Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement, spent in fasting, penitence, and prayer, is the most solemn day in Judaism. It takes place on 10 Tishri.
Sukkot. This ancient Jewish harvest festival, which begins on 15 Tishri, recalls the period in which harvesters left their homes to dwell in the fields in sukkot, or booths—small outdoor shelters of boards, leaves, and branches—in order to facilitate gathering the crops before the seasonal rains began. In religious terms, it commemorates the 40 years of wandering in the desert by the ancient Hebrews after their exodus from Egypt. The 8th day of Sukkot and the 22d day of Tishri is Shmini Azeret/Simhat Torah, a joyous holiday in which the annual cycle of reading the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) is completed and begun anew. Outside of Israel, Simhat Torah and the beginning of a new reading cycle are celebrated on the next day, 23 Tishri.
Hanukkah. The Festival of Lights, corresponding roughly to the winter solstice, is celebrated over an eight-day period beginning on 25 Kislev, the third month. Also known as the Feast of Dedication and Feast of the Maccabees, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple at Jerusalem in 164 BC. According to tradition, the one ritually pure container of olive oil, sufficient to illuminate the Temple for one day, miraculously burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared. A feature of the Hanukkah celebration is the lighting in each Jewish home of an eight-branched candelabrum, the menorah (hanukkiah). This festival, though not a public holiday in Israel, is widely observed with the lighting of giant hanukkiot in public places.
Purim. This holiday, celebrated on 14 Adar (Adar Sheni in a leap year), joyously commemorates the delivery of the Jews from potential annihilation at the hands of Haman, viceroy of Persia, as described in the Book of Esther, which is read from a scroll (megillah). The day, though not a public holiday in Israel, is widely marked by charity, exchange of edible gifts, and feasting.
Pesach (Passover). Pesach, lasting seven days in Israel and eight outside it, begins on 15 Nisan, at roughly the spring equinox, and recalls the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and their delivery from bondage. The chief festival of Judaism, Pesach begins with a ceremonial family meal, or seder, at which special foods (including unleavened bread, or matzoh) are eaten and the Passover story (Haggadah) is read.
Shavuot. This festival, on 6 Sivan, celebrates the presentation of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai and the offering of the first harvest fruits at the temple in Jerusalem. The precursor of the Christian Pentecost, Shavuot takes place on the 50th day after the first day of Pesach.
Tishah b'Av. This holiday, which takes place on 9 Av, commemorates the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians (Chaldeans) in 586 BC and of the Second Temple by the Romans in AD 70. It is observed by fasting.
The Jewish calendar begins with the traditional date of Creation, equivalent to 3761 BC on the Christian calendar.
Muslim Holidays
Like the Jewish calendar, the Islamic calendar consists of 12 months alternating between 29 and 30 days. A normal year is 354 days; a leap day is added to the last month (Dhu'l-Hijja) 11 times during a 30-year cycle in order to keep the calendar in conformity with the phases of the moon. Like the Jewish day, the Islamic day runs from sundown to sundown. Unlike the Jewish calendar, however, the Islamic calendar makes no attempt to align itself with the solar year by the periodic addition of an extra month; therefore, over the course of time, Islamic festivals may occur at any season. Like the Christian and Jewish calendars, the Islamic calendar has a seven-day week. Friday is the principal day of worship; although work is not forbidden on that day, it is suspended during the midday prayer session. The following list gives Muslim holy days that are observed as public holidays in one or more of the predominantly Muslim countries. Except where noted, a transliteration style reflecting pronunciation practice in the Arab countries is given. Not given here are certain special Muslim holidays in Iran, the only Muslim country in which the Shi'i form of Islam predominates.
Muslim New Year. Although in some countries 1 Muharram, which is the first month of the Islamic year, is observed as a holiday, the new year is in other places observed on Sha'ban, the eighth month of the year. This practice apparently stems from pagan Arab times. Shab-i-Bharat, a national holiday in Bangladesh on this day, is held by many to be the occasion when God ordains all actions in the coming year.
'Ashura. This fast day was instituted by Muhammad as the equivalent of the Jewish Yom Kippur but later became voluntary when Ramadan replaced it as a penitential event. It also commemorates Noah's leaving the ark on Mt. Ararat after the waters of the Great Flood had subsided. In Iran, the martyrdom of Husayn, grandson of Muhammad, is commemorated with passion plays on this day.
Milad an-Nabi. The traditional birthday of Muhammad is celebrated on 12 Rabi al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic year.
Laylat al-Miraj. This holiday, celebrated on 27 Rajab, the seventh month, commemorates the night of Muhammad's miraculous ascension to heaven, during which he received instructions from Allah on the requirements for daily prayer.
Ramadan. The first day of Ramadan (the ninth month) is a public holiday in many countries, although the religious festival does not officially begin until the new moon is sighted from the Naval Observatory in Cairo, Egypt. The entire month commemorates the period in which the Prophet received divine revelation and is observed by a strict fast from sunrise to sundown. This observance is one of Islam's five main duties for believers.
Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Power). This commemoration of the first revelation of the Koran (Qur'an) to Muhammad usually falls on 27 Ramadan.
'Id al-Fitr. The Little Festival, or Breaking-Fast-Festival, which begins just after Ramadan, on 1 Shawwal, the 10th month, is the occasion for three or four days of feasting. In Malaysia and Singapore, this festival is called Hari Raya Puasa; in Turkey, ¸Seker Bayrami.
'Id al-'Adha'. The Great Festival, or Sacrificial Feast, celebrates the end of the special pilgrimage season, or Hajj, to Mecca and Medina, an obligation for Muslims once in their lifetime if physically and economically feasible. The slaughter of animals pays tribute to Abraham's obedience to God in offering his son to the Lord for sacrifice; a portion of the meat is supposed to be donated to the poor. The feast begins on 10 Dhu'l-Hijja and continues to 13 Dhu'l-Hijja (14 Dhu'l-Hijja in a leap year). In Malaysia and Singapore, this festival is celebrated as Hari Raya Haji; in Indonesia, Lebaran Haji; in Turkey, Kurban Bayrami.
The Islamic calendar begins with the entry of Muhammad into Medina, equivalent to AD 622 on the Christian calendar.
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